A Horse Named Stranger

Talking about horrible people. Wolfgang Schäuble has died at the age of 81. He was an MP till the very end. Greeks might (not so) fondly remember him from his tenure as Germany's minister of finances. Not gonna write an orbituary. It really wouldn't end well. While some conservative politicians grew into better people with age and leaving politics behind (like the late Geißler, or the very much alive Klaus Töpfer and (surprisingly) Erwin Huber), Schäuble had very little going for him in terms for a redemption arc. But you have to hand it to him, he was one of the most influential conservative politicians in Germany, who were never able to take the final step of becoming chancellor.

Lev left befre the Azeris reestablished control over their sovereign territory. And this low scale war had been going for a while. Aronian packed up and left Armenia in 2021, citing the decline in goverment support for chess as his reason. Which in plain speak (or in cynic) meant less cash. Sinquefield had been talent shopping around the globe for a while. Wesley So was the biggest name before he landed Aronian. Chess players switching federations for financial reasons is not new, or an Aronian/So thing. Naiditsch (back when he was a 2.700 player) switched from Germany to Azerbaijan, because they put the money in chess and he felt the better funding there would allow him to establish himself in the top ten. He left with a few unkind words towards the German federation, which came back to bite him. (Naiditsch has always had the rep to be sort of a jerk). Anyway, so he switched federations and moved with his ex-wife, Yulia Shvayger to Baku. They didn't like it, and moved away a couple of years a later (no idea, whether Shvayger encountered anti-semitism there, but it wouldn't really surprise me). He set up his base in Greece at the start of the COVID pandemic, reasoning that this won't just blow over in a quick and timely fashion, so he'd rather spend the time in sunny Greece than in rainy Germany (I can't fault his judgement there). Now he wants to transfer back to the German federation, and they are telling him that they don't want him and he should get lost. Azerbaijan waived a compensatory they'd be entitled to for losing a player of his strength, and Naiditsch is willing to pay the FIDE fee for his transfer back out of his own pocket. So the German chess federation wouldn't want him back for free (literally). Which is kinda remarkable. Last time German chess players were not allowed to represent their country was probably back in the 1930s. Naiditisch said he would talk to a lawyer to check whether he could sue his way back into the German Federation. Last time I checked, he was still stuck with the Azeri federation. Anyway, point is. You can't buy happyness as a chess player.

Yeah, but tbf his move came also on the back of Caoili's death. So that might have influenced him wanting a change too. As for his current form. He and his second wife have become parents last year or so (rather recently). So he is following the well established pattern of new fathers dropping ratings points.

That wasn't the point tho. Point was Armenian change of goverment. Lev was close to the ld regime. IIRC the former President served in some function at his wedding. And in return the former President got to get a lot of photo ops with one of Armenia's most popular athletes (for lack of a better word). Change of goverment. New goverment had different spending priorities. Chess dropping down the list, means also way less cash for Lev. Enter Sinsquefield with his checkbook. That was more or less the chain of events.

He switched federations, but he kept his Armenian passport as far as I am aware. I could say a few things about that federation change, but let's just say I don't think anything I would say would make Lev look particularly good.

??! Only Lev(on) I am aware of is Aronian, and he is Armenian (as the name suggests). Anyway, Kramnik had gone off the deep end a couple of years ago. Conspiracy theories about the stolen election and people telling him that he is cray-cray meaning his free speech is under attack. I am just happy he hasn't found/voiced a position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine (yet).

The three David Problem. So there are now at least three David Tennant versions floating around the Whoniverse (10th Doctor, this HUman happily ever after version in the other universe with Rose Tyler, and now this bi-generation). I know he is the most popular Doctor of the revived series but boy. Do we have an equal amount of Masters? Make it make sense.

Pretty impressive. For those who want to check the tournament tables. And her invidividual performance. The IM she beat was Lorin D'costa. He is more of a chess author/coach* than an active player these days (rating below 2.300 is also not that great for an IM). She also didn't get to play any of the big guns. Still impressive. Maurizzi (reigning u20 world champion) finished behind her. *ironically he coaches the English Womens' team if I am not mistaken. Ah, I see Isaac and Falko also participated.

Short interview with Fatih Birol (Head of the IEA)

But as we already established in the UK pol thread: Canadians = sorta the Golden Retrievers of the anglosphere.

Sharing another game excerpt. Position was pretty levelish, before my opponent decided to go creative with 15...Nc6-d4 Position w: Kg1; Qd1; Rb1, f1, Bc1, g2, Nd5, e2; Pb4, c4, d3, e4, f3, g3 b: Kg8; Qd8; Ra8, f8; Bc8, g7; Nd4, f6; Pb7,c7,d6,e5,g5,h6 Postionally white can now get an edge.

Usually not into posting/sharing cartoons (except maybe Squire in the football thread). But that one I found so on point.

Yep, I'd be curious where that sweet spot is, that isn't anything illegal and the NHLPA not wanting to get near. But technically speaking, we don't know whether it wasn't anything illegal. I mean the response when asked whetehr it was anything illegal was not a clear: "No!" Instead the answer was: "It was work place related." which isn't exactly a denial.

Not gonna be bothered with Wagenknecht's clownshow and her making her former party electable. That's a sideshow. So now that the Supreme Court has unsurprisingly ruled Lindner's shadow budgets illegal this coalition has descended into utter disarray. For the non-Germans. The goverment wanted to move € 60bn of the corona relief funds into a another pot. Germany's supreme court essentially said: Not so fast. If you want to do that, you have to properly justify it. You didn't do that. Now they have to balance the budgets for this year and next year. The FDP fuckwits wants to make cuts (esp. in the social sector), Greens and SPD want to abandon the balanced budget restrains and accept higher goverment debts. Greens also want to cut ecological harmful subsidies (the FDP very much likes those). Needless to say, the FDP position is in tune with that bellend Merz, who will be the next chancellor (seven save us). Who will this? The AFDP. The FDP will win this political battle and the AfD will continue to climb in the polls. I fucking detest Christian Lindner so much.

Vegetarian Chili (con couscous).

Well, Fridays For Future were more "aggressive" in their demands of what politics should do. So to accuse them of Greenwashing is not doing them justice in my book. Reaction/response from the political system is woefully inadequate. Check rups different scenarios by the French goverment a while back. It's basically Firdays For Future ringing the alarm bells, and politicians hitting the snooze button over and over again, hoping that when they finally wake up there'll be some miracle/technological solution.

Not sure whether this belongs here, in one of hte Israel threads I avoid, or just International news. With all the need of a global climate/enviromental movement, Greta Thunberg is atm busy wrecking her Fridays For Future. If you were tasked with a beter way to discredit/destroy Firdays for Future, you'd be heard pressed to come up with better way then to give semi-informed speeches on Israel-Palestine. Or post on Twitter about it. Somebody seriously needs to keep her away from microphones.

In todays tales form the crypt. Ok, new season ahs started, after a rather disappointing last season on a personal level, I was able to kick this year off in style (getting to play with the White pieces helps). I had my usual late showing (30 minutes after official begin; and yes, if the chess federation ever starts to impose zero tolerance that would be the end of me). I opted for a rarer set up in the English against my opponent. And he duly burnt some time figuring out what the knight was doing on h3 instead of e2 and if this could be punished somehow. On move 19 I received a draw offer. Clock situation was fixed at that point, with both of us on 18 mins + 30 secs increments (and the prospect of another 60 mins after move 40). Position was levelish, I fancied myself a bit with having a small pull, nothing major, but obviously a much better clock handling. And by move 28 my opponent get himself in serious zeitnot, and was living on 2-3 mins plus increments. He was very eager to exchange as many pieces as possible, my clock was still solid in the 15 mins range. And on move 30 he blundered with 30...N(e8)d6?? See if you can spot what he overlooked. Position. W: Kg1; Rb3; Be4; Pa2, c4, d3, g4, h2 B: Kh8; Rd7; Nd6; Pa7, b7, c6, g7, h7

No, that's Tommy Chong, who is afaik fortunately alive and well.

Richard Roundtree ('Shaft') has died. So has Massive Attacks's Angelo Bruschini

Bit of a niche death (in terms of fame). But RIP International Master Jeremy Silman Seemed to have been a nice guy by all accounts.. Bet most boarders are at least vaguely aware of parts of his work. Namely the consultant gig for tv and movies. He was the consultant who helped with the Chessgame in that Harry Potter movie.

Funny, I always assumed your user name was a play on Bacchus.

Thanks was about to moan about people mentioning that awful NCIS show in which was in his later years, but nobody mentions the great escape. Trivia question, he was the last surviving cast member form The Great Escape right?

Chugged together what I had yesterday. Onion, bulgur, tomato paste, tin of kidney beans, some parsley. Oh, used some harissa to spice it up a bit. Unfortunately I had no garlic. Worked out perfectly adequate. Nothing exceptional, but also not bad either. Saturday's ingredient use it before you lose it was a bit more satisfying. Chickpea, coconut milk, tinned chopped tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, curry and masala powder. Thus some chickpea curry with rice as a side dish was born.

IMs are beatable tho. Been there done that. Altho, my victim was a bit rusty and just getting back into the game back then. Still, I can claim to have beaten an IM in a tournament game. (pre-increment era 120 mins for 40 moves + 30 mins after time control). That win secured club championship at my former club. I have also beat a kiddo, that went on to become an IM. Altho, I find those brags to be kinda lame. I didn't beat prime Malte but merely his 1.800 rated kid edition. On that note, I also won (and lost) a couple of Blitz game against a GM, when he was a kid. I guess that was the lamest brag I could come up with. Also have a 50% score against Karsten Müller in Simultan (2 draws). Well, our top board managed to slay Matthias Wahls last season, which is proper bragging rights stuff (altho Wahls is just a shadow of his former self, after he was forced to come out of retirement). Still a nice scalp.